Paula Hopper
mpK-o7Bcw3w General Paula Hopper is the leader of the Dakota Regulators and a general in the American Northern Army. She tries not to show emotion or anguish on the outside but occasionally has bouts of extreme anger or actual emotion. General Hopper however is excused by her battlefield experience and her friendship with General Marcus Williams. History Origins Paula Hopper was born on May 8, 2240, in Rapid Valley to Ophelia and Harper Hopper. Both caravaneers, Paula's parents often took her on dangerous journeys through Rapid City as a child. This gave Paula a lot of experience in killing at an early age, usually feral ghouls and raiders. One particular experience saw her parent's caravan being assaulted by super mutants from the Superiority, even though they had paid the mutants off. They barely escaped. This caused some trauma and supplanted her general distrust of mutants, but Paula holds fond memories of this time in her life. Her mother would always tuck into bed, and her father would always kiss her on the cheek to say goodnight. This was not helped when Paula's mother came out as a homosexual in 2249 and was forced out of the house (and eventually Rapid Valley) by her spurned father. Paula was only nine years old and did not understand what was happening. Her mother did not tuck her into bed, and her father did not kiss her on the cheek. For a few days, she assumed it was her fault and hid in her room, refusing to come out. Her father was drunk and depressed since her mother was gone and did not even try to get her for two days. After her mother left, Paula's father cleaned up his act, sold their old caravan, and tried to settle down in Rapid Valley to try to begin again. He even remarrying in 2252. Though this did mean she would get some schooling, this did not go over well with Paula, and she grew distant from her father and stepmother. Paula wanted out of her constrictive house, she wanted to explore and get out like she did when she was young. This need to leave was only compounded when puberty hit. She saw an opportunity to escape in 2256: the Dakota Regulators. The saintly white-coated protectors of the town, the Regulators were some of the few people in Rapid Valley who left town and went into the ruins of Rapid City, besides caravaners. The entry age was sixteen, and Paula decided it was her best way out. Her father did not approve of Paula leaving, but accepted it as what she wanted and gave her several going away presents. One of these was her first knife "to keep her safe". Beginnings in the Regulators When Paula Hopper went to the Regulators asking to join, they were happy enough to accept her and put her with a trainer. At the time Paula joined (2256), the Regulators were rather low on manpower, what with combating raiders and (more recently) slavers, so they needed to rush out as many new Regulators as soon as possible to make up for daily losses. In 2257, Paula was first assigned to duty enforcing basic law inside Rapid Valley before going on any expeditions to the outside. This frustrated Paula, as she was told that she had shown much promise in training but then was not allowed outside or even assigned to a platoon. Also, the conflict with the slavers had escalated into a war with Custer's American Army, and Paula was just itching to get some action. Instead, she was stuck in Rapid Valley, taking down drunks and embezzlers armed with a crossbow. Her new uniform was some scavenged pieces combat armor and sports equipment painted the Regulators' traditional white. The work was boring, but Paula knew that the outside was dangerous and that she shouldn't be presumptuous about going out like she had when she was a little girl. Everything changed in 2258. The cork popped out of Vault 52, and hundreds of chem-addled vault dwellers emerged to ravage the whole of Rapid City. Information on the vault dwellers in Rapid Valley was spotty at first, with many actually supporting the dwellers in uprooting the raider gangs and possibly setting up their own settlement, not knowing their chem addiction and uncontrollable nature. Paula heard about and paid this little mind, thinking it would blow over. Then word came that Custer had withdrawn his entire army from Rapid City ahead of the vault dwellers. This didn't have too much of an effect on most of Rapid Valley, but it set off a whole series of alarms in Paula's head. What if we're next on their list? She watched the city beyond Rapid Valley smoke and worried. Shit Gets Real In the early hours of July 2, 2258, Paula's fears came true. Bypassing various Regulator checkpoints and outposts, a band of almost one hundred vault dwellers advanced on Rapid Valley in the biggest direct attack on the settlement since the Superiority sacked the place almost forty years earlier. The vault dwellers' approach was sighted by sentries, and all Dakota Regulators were posted to the walls to fight, even Paula. The vault dwellers came at Rapid Valley's walls in droves with grenades and explosives, blowing several holes in the Regulators defenses. Paula took some shrapnel to the leg at that time. The chem addled vault dwellers that came through the gaps used a weird mix of laser and melee weapons to take a big toll on the Regulators. Paula specifically had to fight off several vault dwellers on her bad leg, first with her crossbow then viscerally with her combat knife. By the end of the battle, Paula had collapsed, covered in her and her enemies' blood while slumped against a vault dweller corpse. Paula woke up the next day in a hospital bed to find that she had already healed by a stimpak. After getting up and limping out of her tent, Paula was greeted by a smiling face: Barry Cecil, one of the Dakota Regulator sergeant. Cecil informed Paula that due to her performance (and manpower shortages), she would be assigned to one of the Regulators' two platoons, Free Eagle Platoon to be specific. This brought Paula much joy, and she quickly moved her living space from her shack to the Free Eagle Platoon's new encampment outside Rapid Valley. There, she met her new squadmates: Dick Hayes, Young, Daryl Radson, Jag III, and Freddy Rickles. In the time before presumably being deployed into Rapid City to fight the vault dwellers, Paula had to get to know her squad. The only woman in her squad, Paula nonetheless managed to bond with her squad mates due to common interests, combat experiences, and strip poker (which Paula almost always won). Paula soon found each squadmate had different interests or quirks. Hayes, the leader, always tried to be serious and official but was willing to have a bit of fun with his soldiers. Young, a grunt recruited even after Paula, tried to be brave and outspoken but had a distinct phobia of mutants. Radson was a polite upstanding fellow but was as clumsy as all get out. Jag III was descended from great men and women and let everyone know. He was arrogant but actually tolerable. Freddy Rickles was another grunt like Paula and Young but was very intelligent and acted as the squad's brains. Paula became friends with all of them, Radson most of all. This short peaceful time ended on July 19 when a large group of vault dwellers attacked the Regulators' encampment at dusk. Paula, now prepared for the fight, charged at the vault dwellers alongside her squad and sent them running by the next morning. Paula emerged with a victory and unscathed, but that came at a cost. In the fighting, Jag III took a slug to the head and was instantly killed. Meanwhile, Hayes took a steak knife to his left eye and had to be hospitalized. With Hayes injured, the second in command Daryl Radson took over. Hopper was happy for Radson but was unhappy to have introduced two more new recruits, Eskimo Joe, and Hannah. This was hard, as Joe was a borderline mute, Hannah was a bitch, and Paula had little time until their next assignment. In early August, the Free Eagle Platoon was finally sent out to Rapid City to make sorties with the vault dwellers and bring down their numbers. Paula and her squad were ordered to west to investigate the entrance of Vault 52 along with a few other squads and shoot any remaining vault dwellers that emerged. Arriving near Vault 52, the Regulator squads scouted out the entrance only to see fighting occurring there already. It appeared that a group of Yen Boys was taking vault dwellers captive and a gang of vault dwellers had come up to engage them. The Regulators decided to ultimately engage both forces but focus on the Yen Boys, as they were heavily armed. Paula was happy to back into the action, now equipped with a laser rifle scavenged from the body of a dead vault dweller. When the Regulators fell upon the combatants, Paula's squad engaged the Yen Boys. Paula was in the thick of the fight, running through ruins and scrambling up walls to get closer. She did not get into close combat in this battle but managed to pick off several Yen Boys with her laser rifle. Near the end of the battle, one of the Chinese raiders attempted to brain her with a hatchet but was killed by Radson, who Paula gave a thumbs up. She escaped this battle unscathed. None of Paula's squad were killed or severely injured in battle, though Eskimo Joe did sustain some minor injuries due to a fall. After the battle, the Regulators set up camp outside Vault 52, hoping to cut off any vault dweller stragglers or Yen Boy slavers. Things looked well for those first few weeks. Paula and her squadmates had a lot of fun in their downtime, with the most memorable moment being driving an ancient car through the streets of Rapid City for a day. Freddy Rickles had managed to repair the car to working condition. Paula drove with Radson in the shotgun and the rest in the backseat. When the sun set, the squad piled out of the car, fleeing its inevitable explosion laughing all the way. In reality, though, the next month would be hell. Attacks on the Regulators' camp by raiders, vault dwellers, and feral ghouls steadily increased as time went on. Refugees from the rest of Rapid City clinging onto the Regulators for protection drained resources quicker as well. This occupation of Vault 52 was not sustainable. Paula cared little for the refugees draining resources, as many were good people (though some were mutants). What she cared about were the dead, her dead. About a month into the occupation, Yen Boys picked off Eskimo Joe when he fell asleep at night on guard duty. The Regulators found his body the next day strung up by his ankles outside their camp along with two other dead sentries. While Radson solemnly cut the three down, Paula watched him tear up a bit. The bodies were sent back to Rapid Valley for burial. Paula wanted to head an expedition against the Yen Boys in retaliation but was talked down by Radson and her superiors. This was ultimately for the best, because retaliation would have overextended the Regulators and opened their flank to attack. Sentries and guards continued to be picked off by vault dwellers or raiders, and by September, the Regulators outside Vault 52 had lost more than thirty people to guerilla warfare with little to show for it. Also, the pressure of the job was hard on Paula's squad. Young was having paranoia over the ghouls among the refugees, and both him and Hannah were deeply affected by Eskimo Joe's death. Radson and Paulson worked hard to keep their squad together and guard the Regulators' camp. This made Paula a bit ticked off since she would rather continue making sorties into the Rapid City ruins along with the other platoon instead of guarding Vault 52. She also resented the Regulators' leadership, specifically Commander Isaacs and her former "friend" Sergeant Cecil, for seemingly forgetting about her squad and their encampment and letting them soak up casualties. Young was killed in September, shanked by a ghoul refugee he was checking for "contraband". Radson quickly executed the refugee before he could escape while Paula and the squad watched and later dumped the body outside the camp. Paula talked to several of the refugees about the knifing and found that Young had roughed up several mutants before holding the one that killed him at gunpoint. Paula thought about this but decided to not tell Radson and the rest of the squad about it. When the winter of 2258 arrived, more and more vault dwellers tried to return to Vault 52 and attack the Regulators' camp. By November, the Regulators' leadership decided that, instead of holding of the vault's entrance like they had, they would instead simply blow up the Vault's entrance and prevent any possible entry by vault dwellers, raiders, or scavengers. Paula's squad and the rest of the Regulators' in the camp were told to return to Rapid Valley while the demolition squad blocked off Vault 52's entrance. Returning to Rapid Valley, Paula and what remained of her squad were incorporated into the town's garrison of Regulators to defend from more potential attacks from the Superiority, raiders, or even Custer. This combined with the Regulators' seeming waste of life occupying Vault 52 when they could have just blown it up pissed Paula off and made her want to hurt someone, anyone. This only worsened when an injured Hayes took back over as squad leader from Radson. Three people in my squad alone died for the Commander's vanity, even more from the platoon. This idiocy can't go on. Luckily for the Regulators, most of the factions of Rapid City had not weathered the vault dwellers onslaught as well as them, taking almost a year to recover. This was a slow, anger inducing time for Paula which was only alleviated by her friends Daryl Radson and Freddy Rickles, who helped with her anger issues and potentially prevented her from deserting. By the summer of 2259, Paula was at breaking point and in an act of desperation pleaded with Sergeant Cecil to be reassigned to something other than garrison duty. She was refused. So as war raged outside Rapid Valley's walls once again between Custer and the Regulators, once again Paula was stuck inside Rapid Valley. This, combined with the seemingly unnecessary deaths in her squad, made Paula very angry. Soon, Radson and the rest of the squad were mad as well. Change was coming, whether the higher ups liked it or not. Friends, Dead or Alive In the fall of 2259, Paula's squad was finally sent out into Rapid City to fight. This made Paula and Radson extremely happy but worried Hayes. This was because Hayes knew the Regulators were not deploying them as a favor but because they were becoming desperate. It was a consequence of this that led much Paula's Hopper's future pain. The first few days out on patrol in Rapid City were uneventful, as most of the raiders simply wanted to avoid a highly armed force of Regulators. The soldiers of Custer's American Army had no such scruples. On October 3, 2259, Hayes' squad of Regulators, including Paula, were patrolling the area west of Vault 52. It was a standard procedure by then, as the squad had done it several times before. However, things were different since this time they were beset by a hail of automatic gunfire. The withering fire, from a RUSA machine gun nest, cut down Hannah instantly and dropped Radson to the ground. While the rest of her squad scrambled for cover, Paula ran out into the open to drag Radson to cover. She managed to succeed, dragging him into a ruined bookstore even as the gunfire cut through the walls. Eventually though, the gunfire turned away from Paula and towards other members of her squad, behind cover but stuck in the open street. Paula stayed with Radson for a whole day, nursing his wounds as best as she could while watching for raiders or RUSA soldiers. She also painfully watched out a narrow window as the machine nest worked at picking off her two remaining squadmates, Hayes and Freddy Rickles. It was unsuccessful but kept them pinned down for that whole day into the night. Paula managed to indicate to both of them where she was through using a small pocket mirror, a technique they had learned in training. When nightfall came, raiders also entered the fight. Vault dweller raiders, hailing from around Vault 52, were attracted by the gunfire and engaged with both the RUSA and Paula's Regulator squadmates. They killed Freddy Rickles in cold blood but actually allowed cover for Hayes to get out of the open and make a run towards Paula's position in the ruined bookstore. With Paula providing cover fire, Hayes made it over to Paula. The two, along with the injured Radson, then had a refreshing drink of water. Paula and Radson though were still visibly shaken by Rickles and Hannah's deaths. Hayes had not known either of them for long, being hospitalized for most of their service but tried to make the other two as comfortable as possible, particularly the injured Radson. That night, Paula was on watch and spent her time rifling through books and putting some in a satchel, for later. On the morning of October 4, 2259, Paula scouted outside and found that the machine gun nest had been dismantled and abandoned. The vault dweller raiders were gone as well. Since he was stronger, Hayes decided he would carry Radson while Paula would go in front and protect them from potential threats. They both slowly crept out of the ruined bookstore into the open. It was dawn, and the city was just waking up. The three Regulators made their way through the ruins towards Rapid Valley. Progress was slowed due to Hayes carrying a now unconscious Radson, and Paula was forced to fend off some vicious dogs. The gunshots drew the attention of some raiders, who zeroed in on the Regulators. The three were forced to run west, away from Rapid Valley. Paula, seeing the situation was hopeless otherwise, convinced Hayes to drop Radson down in cover and run for it. She said they could come back for him later. After a few seconds of convincing, Hayes agreed and dropped Radson down behind a mailbox. Paula and Hayes managed to outrun the raiders and inch their way back towards Rapid Valley. They didn't talk much. Apart from Radson's abandonment, they seemed to be doing fine and would make it back before the day was over. Only one of them would. Passing near Vault 52, Paula and Hayes were caught unawares by the same RUSA machine nest as yesterday, which had set up once after Paula had scouted out its position. Hayes was gunned down instantly while Paula dropped to the ground and feigned death. The RUSA soldiers, not scavengers, did not bother to check for bodies, and Paula spent the rest of the day crawling her way past them. After escaping the machine gun nest, Paula stumbled her way back to Rapid Valley, feeling utterly broken. Walking through Rapid Valley's gates, Paula was also immediately taken back to the barracks to get medical treatment for her injuries and to be evaluated. A Regulator asked Paula where her squad was, and she simply did not respond. Paula's physical injuries were minor, with only a few scrapes and one solitary gunshot to her leg. Paula's primary injuries were psychological, trauma from seeing her squad being cut down one by one. For two weeks, she did not say a word to anyone and mostly stayed in bed, trying to understand what had happened. She was so ashamed of seemingly abandoning Radson and leading Hayes to his death. Paula frequently had trouble sleeping and when she did, she woke up screaming. So, Paula silently read the books she had taken from the bookstore at night. It soon helped her get through the days as well. Paula had taken four books from the bookstore and read them all in her three weeks in bed. They were Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, and Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly. Paula read all four while she was bedridden to get through the day, but only one of them really stuck with her. After her two weeks in the hospital, Paula was given a test to determine whether she mentally sound enough to be released. Passing, she was released back into Rapid City and was sent back to the Regulators' barracks to be reassigned to another squad (and possibly another platoon). On arrival, Paula requested a visit her father before being reassigned, as she was sure he was worried sick about her. This was granted. Paula's visit with her father was short and sweet since she did not want to sleep at his house. Her father knew something was up with her as soon as she arrived but due to Paula's reluctance was unable to find out what was wrong. In the end, he and her stepmother just told Paula that they were happy to see her alive and sent her on her way, not knowing the turmoil going on beneath the surface. Returning the Regulators' barracks, Paula was reassigned to the Mohicans Platoon headed by the young and upcoming Sergeant Johnson. Johnson, a short but dynamic man, welcomed this tall confused looking woman into his platoon with open arms, deciding to assign her to to his squad as what he called "a personal favor". Paula did not protest, happy enough to return to the fight against Custer and the rest of the scum of Rapid City. Her enthusiasm after the death of her previous squad creeped out the rest of her new squad but fascinated Sergeant Johnson for some reason. She suppressed her sleeping episodes and tried to put up a brave face for her new squad. Before her first mission with her new squad though, Paula learned through Sergeant Johnson that Radson was alive, been rescued, and was currently in the same hospital Paula had stayed in. However, Johnson told Paula that Radson was "fucked up real bad" and warned against visiting him. Of course Paula disobeyed this and did it anyways. Radson was sitting in a hospital bed sleeping. He looked unharmed, which made Paula relieved. However, when Paula touched his arms, she saw restraints tying him to the bed. A nurse then came up to Paula and shooed her away, saying the patient had been violently traumatized for weeks on end and should not be disturbed. Paula quietly asked what had happened to Radson, who looked uninjured to her. The nurse took her aside and whispered the story. Apparently, Radson had been found tied up in a raider den high on jet being ridden by numerous female raiders. The Regulators had waited until his captors had gone to sleep and had spirited him back to Rapid Valley a babbling mess. Paula clenched her fists, angry that the scum that had tormented her friend was still. Not for long hopefully. Returning to her platoon, Paula was sent out on several missions in late 2259 and early 2260, mostly patrols and skirmishing with raiders such as Yen Boys and vault dwellers. She grew closer to Sergeant Johnson and the two became good friends. Paula even got to know Mark Hayes, her former squad leader Dick Hayes' uncle. They did not become friends but developed a type of mutual respect. After each mission, Paula would visit Radson in the hospital, sometimes even reading to him from one of her books. With her help, Radson began to recover, though he still did not talk just listened. In early 2260, Sergeant Johnson also began to visit Radson, having heard of him from Paula while in combat and in the barracks. Johnson was much less thoughtful than Paula was and often scared Radson with his loud voice and sudden movements. Within a month, Johnson had stopped visiting Radson, which Paula was silently relieved by. The summer of 2260 saw great changes for the Dakota Regulators and Paula. The Beginning of A Beautiful Friendship Ascension and Conflict War of the Generals Personality The personality of Paula Hopper is a nebulous one, but she is most well known for her stoicism and calculation. She tries not to show emotion but sometimes does, either snapping and having an episode or showing an act of genuine kindness. This has made any relationship hard for Hopper, so she currently prefers to be alone most of time. However, Paula's years of combat and personal trauma have worn on her psyche quite a bit, adding to her anger issues. She tries to control this through the use of alcohol, chems, and meditation at different points, but none of them served as permanent solutions to her problems. Relationships Paula Hopper has had various relationships in her time, some friendly, some romantic. Her most long standing friendship is with her last living squadmate, Daryl Radson. Hopper regards Radson as the kind thoughtful brother she never had, taking care of him after his traumatic experience and later taking revenge for him. She watches out for Radson, just as he did for her so many years ago. Her romantic relationships have been far less stable or healthy. Her first love was the young defiant Sergeant Johnson, who she looked up to for leadership (and companionship) after most of her squad was killed, and Radson became withdrawn. She and Johnson eventually became something of a couple but before it could become permanent, the rugged Tom Renner stormed into Hopper's life in 2260. At first, Hopper hated Renner for his domineering and uptight attitude. However, this soon morphed into a love-hate relationship later as both Renner and Hopper became increasingly frustrated with each other. Nothing was ever offical between the two. Bringing up the rear was Adam Lietzen, a former vault dweller turned owner of Badlands Bulk Arms. Brought to Rapid Valley as a captive, Lietzen was infatuated with Hopper as soon as he saw her and created BBA specifically to impress her. At the time, Hopper ignored Lietzen as Johnson and Renner were still her primary concerns, with his stalking being an occasional annoyance. However, Lietzen had the advantage of safety within Rapid Valley, outliving the other two contenders with Johnson dying in exile in 2275 and Renner dying in battle against the CLA in 2280. Hopper gives Lietzen some attention, even the occasional date, but does it mostly to humor him and the BBA and will never commit to anything serious. Lietzen seems not to care. Appearance Paula Hopper is unusually tall for a woman, which sets her apart in a crowd. Hopper has blonde hair and pale skin, punctuated by several scars from battlefield wounds. She dresses like the other Dakota Regulators with a white outer clothing and body armor underneath. She sometimes wears advanced riot gear in battle, which is painted white to match the rest of the Dakota Regulators. Equipment Hopper's primary weapon is a laser rifle while other weapons include a combat shotgun, and a combat knife. She rarely carries stimpaks and often has painkillers and some other medicine on the battlefield. Hooper often carries a radio on her, to stay in contact with the ANA. Quotes By About Category:Badlands